Real estate daily dish

•After three years of big job losses, the mortgage industry hired more people than it laid off in 2009, according to MortgageDaily.com.

The biggest net increase — factoring in both hirings and layoffs — was in Texas, where mortgage employment expanded by 1,600. But the biggest decline was in Illinois, where jobs in real estate finance contracted by 2,392. Florida and Washington also had job losses in excess of 1,000.